Holmstrom scores in shootout to give Red Wings’ alumni two-game sweep

Tomas Holmstrom scored the only goal of the shootout to give the Detroit Red Wings’ alumni a 6-5 victory and a sweep of two games in the NHL’s Alumni Showdown outside at Comerica Park before an announced crowd 33,425 on Tuesday.

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Bryan McCabe tied it at 5 for Toronto with 2 seconds left to cap the Maple Leafs’ comeback from a 5-1 deficit.

Detroit won the first game 5-4.

The second game, played in two 25-minute halves, featured Hall of Famer and long-time Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman, who is the general manger of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the GM of Canada’s Olympic Team; Brendan Shanahan, an NHL vice president; and Nicklas Lidstrom for Detroit, and Hall of Famers Darryl Sittler, Doug Gilmour, Lanny McDonald, Mike Gartner and Joe Nieuwendyk for Toronto.

Yzerman didn’t get on the score sheet but he received the loudest ovation from the fans in the city in which he played his entire 22-season career and won the Stanley Cup three times.

"It’s a nice little distraction," said Yzerman, who was the Detroit captain for 19 seasons. "I’ve had a lot of things on my mind the past few days. Canada has got a lot of good players, especially at forward.

"You can only take 14 and there’s 20 that we could take."

Other Hall of Famers who suited up for Detroit were Chris Chelios, who scored a goal, Larry Murphy, Paul Coffey, Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Mark Howe and Dino Ciccarelli.

Hall of Famer Scotty Bowman coached the Red Wings, and Pat Quinn directed the Maple Leafs. Hall of Famers Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay dropped the puck for a ceremonial faceoff between Yzerman and Sittler before the second game and Vladimir Konstantinov was helped onto the ice to be with the rest of his "Russian 5" former Red Wing teammates, Larionov, Fetisov, Sergei Fedorov — who had a goal — and Slava Kozlov. Konstantinov was badly injured in a limousine accident a few days after Detroit won the Stanley Cup in 1997.

"That was good," Toronto’s Wendel Clark said. "You probably couldn’t have asked for a better day. You had everything going on, a little excitement in the game. It was good fun had by all."

The first game, played in two 20-minute halves, featured 74-year-old University of Michigan coach Red Berenson and two-time Stanley Cup winner Martin Lapointe for the Red Wings, and three-time Stanley Cup champion Mike Krushelnyski for the Maple Leafs Alumni.

Berenson didn’t skate and play like a 74-year-old.

"I hope when I’m 74, I can still play in these games," Toronto’s Brad Marsh said. "I’m 55 now. You can do the math."

Berenson talked about his secret.

"I think I’m lucky. I’ve been able to stay in the game and be around young kids and be on the ice with them," he said. "But I’m just lucky."

The youngest participant, 41 years younger than Berenson, was 33-year-old Jiri Fischer, who had a goal and an assist. He was forced to retire at the age of 25, after having a heart attack on the bench during a Red Wings game on Nov. 20, 2006. Fischer is Detroit’s director of player development.

Kevin Miller had a goal and two assists and Aaron Ward also had a goal and an assist for Detroit. Petr Klima and Pat Verbeek also scored.